Anyone ever had luck with a 2700 track?

[DeformedTree]

3:05 p.m. sunny day, 70 year old man with a white beard and a bald head, all alone.  I'm sure the police were referencing me.

They were suspicious because you were not having lunch at the Buffet in the strip mall at this time, set off many red flags.  [embarassed]

 

[DeformedTree]

First, my shop has 7 foot ceilings and storing the track would be difficult for me (I guess I could hang it between the rafters overhead, but still a difficult matter to maneuver in and out of the basement.)

And second, UPS will ship items up to (I believe) 92".  Everything else has to go by truck.  I could drive 40 miles to pick it up, but The Tool Nut does not keep weekend hours, closes at 5:00 p.m. and on Fridays when I get off work early, they close at 3:00 p.m. so I would have to take a day off from work to buy this. 

So that is a no-purchase for me.

This comes up on rail selection a lot, why do folks tend to thinking vertical when storing rails?  I just don't get the connection of rail length and ceiling heights.  Like the short ones I might lean against something temporarily, but the long ones I just keep either laying on what ever horizontal surface is around for the moment, but when done, they go sideways on wall. I store them just like un-used lumber, lengths of pipe, etc.  The 3000mm rail is basically 10ft, goes well with other 10ft material, or just put some screws in a wall and hang it by them.

Or put another way, do folks who store them vertically, if they need to transport them by car, do they stick them straight up out the sun roof?  You could transport a very long rail in a very small car with that method.

Yeah, delivery is via freight truck, very old school experience. It's also kinda amusing to have a big tractor trailer roll down your street, and open up just to have this very small box in there, just because it's long.

I take mine in and out of basement without much issue, but I also carry it parallel to ground, not vertical.  [tongue]

 

[Packard]

I have a walk out basement but that is only accessible if there is no snow on the ground.

I can (with difficulty) carry in 8' long boards, but it requires that I use a variety of angles to make the turn down to the basement.  I don't think I would be able to carry a nearly 10" piece down the stairs. 

When I was doing some crown molding in the house (and the molding was 12' long) I just carried the chop saw upstairs and set it up on my deck. 

I have to do my bathroom's crown molding and it entails one 12' run, but I don't think I can get a 12 footer into the room.  I will have to cut it to two six footers.  I would like to avoid that mid run splice but I don't think it is possible.  I might try going through the window, but it is a tiny window and I don't think it will make the turn.

 

[DeformedTree]

I have a walk out basement but that is only accessible if there is no snow on the ground.

I can (with difficulty) carry in 8' long boards, but it requires that I use a variety of angles to make the turn down to the basement.  I don't think I would be able to carry a nearly 10" piece down the stairs. 

When I was doing some crown molding in the house (and the molding was 12' long) I just carried the chop saw upstairs and set it up on my deck. 

I have to do my bathroom's crown molding and it entails one 12' run, but I don't think I can get a 12 footer into the room.  I will have to cut it to two six footers.  I would like to avoid that mid run splice but I don't think it is possible.  I might try going through the window, but it is a tiny window and I don't think it will make the turn.

Neighbors see you punching a hole thru foundation wall, when they ask what you are doing you respond "crown molding"

 

[Coen]

This comes up on rail selection a lot, why do folks tend to thinking vertical when storing rails?

Because in tight shops ceiling height is the determining factor in ability to 'flip' the rail indoors.

 

[Packard]

I do store some of my photography studio stands between the rafters in my basement.  But that is for items that are rarely used. 

I currently store my tracks vertically (two 55" and one 32") and my saw in a systainer.  In order to use them I have to pull them from storage. 

I do find myself using my table saw on a regular basis because it is always "at the ready".  All I have to do is flip a switch. 

I am using the track saw more and more often, but clearing the assembly benches for the track saw and setting up takes more time  than it takes to make one or two cuts on table saw. 

In a month or so, the track saw will come into its own.  The warmer weather means that I will be breaking down plywood for cabinets.  Except now instead of breaking down the plywood, I am cutting to finished dimensions.  A real time-saver.

 

[Dr. P. Venkman]

I just don't get the connection of rail length and ceiling heights. 

I agree with this on storage, for sure.

I get the concern when considering actual use, but I don't know that there's a meaningful difference between in how easy the 2700 and 3000 are to move around a shop.  Mostly, I think either you have the space to deal with a long rail, or you don't.

I recently did some work at my mother's house, and I set up in her basement garage (7 foot ceilings, but a good amount of space horizontally).  The 2700 was a tad unwieldy to move around - you can spin it horizontally, if you have room, and kind of duck under it as it turns, but in a tight space it might get annoying.  I don't think the 3000 would be noticeably harder to move around in most cases.

 

[Mettes]

I bought a 5000 and chopped it down to a 3300/1700.  In Europe we have the 244/250cm size panels but also a lot of 305cm (125cm wide)
the 3300 is perfect for these long panels and the 1700 for crosscutting them.

 

[DeformedTree]

5m rail is crazy, just the idea of finding a use, let along moving one and not having it kink in half.

5m would be some very tall cabinetry, gonna need a step stool.

 

[Michael Kellough]

I lean rails against the wall in a corner or next to a cabinet so they’re out of the way and less liable to get knocked over. The shortest rail goes first and then progressively longer/taller rails ending with the 2700. It just fits at my base shop when it’s leaning. They’re all easy to retrieve and the whole group requires very little space and no extra gizmos.

When traveling I strap them together with stretch wrap. The rails get turned top to top and around so  the splinter guard is inboard and protected from the wrap. Also nest the different lengths so that the longest rail isn’t the only one keeping the stack from bending. The stack goes on edge along the side of my minivan, big vans are a pain to park in Manhattan. The 3000 rail would have to lay on the floor and and stuff would need to be piled on top, to it’s detriment.

The 2700 is just long enough for ripping 8 feet with a 55 saw. I’ve gotten good at adding rails and keeping them straight but I’m still temped to buy the TSO joiner.

The longest cut I’ve made was forty something feet on a built-in countertop and didn’t have nearly enough rails for that so I used the the 2700 as a guide to slide the 1900 along. Used a laser to locate where the long rail should be placed to keep the overall cut straight and then placed heavy things on the long rail. Started the long rail a few feet from the end and let the 1900 overlap to reduce the number of times the long rail had to be moved. Used clamps on top of the 1900 since could not access bottom of counter so it worked out to making three cuts per 2700 position. Made sure to keep the clamps on the 1900 until the 2700 was moved and secured. Finished cutting the ends with jigsaw and multi and hard sanding block. Result was as straight as could be discerned without something more precise than a laser.

 

[Coen]

I bought a 5000 and chopped it down to a 3300/1700.  In Europe we have the 244/250cm size panels but also a lot of 305cm (125cm wide)
the 3300 is perfect for these long panels and the 1700 for crosscutting them.

That is actually a sweet idea.  [cool] The 3300 for the long side, the 1700 for the 1,25m side.